OREANDA-NEWS. ITOCHU Corporation and Benefit One Inc. announced that they would establish a joint venture called Benefit One Asia Pte. Ltd. (hereinafter "Benefit One Asia") in Singapore as a parent company that will provide Japanese companies operating in the Asian region and local companies in Asian countries with welfare services.

Both companies plan to develop welfare services in Asian countries such as Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia, beginning in Singapore, with Benefit One Asia as the parent company, by taking advantage of the expertise of Benefit One in building and operating welfare services and of the overseas networks of ITOCHU.

As companies in Asian countries with strong economic growth are becoming increasingly interested in recruiting top-class personnel and in retaining employees by increasing the level of job satisfaction, demand for excellent welfare services is expected to increase solidly as one solution for these needs. The total market scale of services related to the retention of employees (social insurance, welfare programs, health management and livelihood support, etc.) in Taiwan and the six major ASEAN countries is estimated to be 9.8 trillion yen (according to a Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. survey in 2013).

Benefit One established local subsidiaries in Shanghai, China in May 2012 and in California, the United States in December to develop an "incentive point business" that enables the exchange of points with services such as travel and dining at restaurants, by granting the points to employees who achieve an outstanding performance and diligently undertake continuing education as part of welfare programs.

ITOCHU is focusing on the Asian region as a growth market in the ICT field, acquiring a 100% stake in leading local IT business providers in Singapore and Malaysia in March 2013 jointly with ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation. ITOCHU will actively promote this joint venture, viewing the establishment of the joint venture company as one of the overseas outsourcing businesses that will be a core operation in the next ICT field.

Both companies will begin preparations to commence services in the spring of 2014, starting in Singapore through Benefit One Asia, the joint venture company to be established this time. Subsequently, the two companies will proceed with market research and preparations in each country, looking to development in other Asian countries such as Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.